arXiv subjects

Andrew R. Tawfeek

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew R. Tawfeek.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Taming Wild Knots with Mosaics

Wild knots--knots with infinite knotting behavior--have resisted traditional methods of knot classification, making them more of a curiosity in topology than a subject of sustained investigation. In this paper, we present a new way to investigate these objects. We extend Lomonaco and Kauffman's knot mosaic theory to represent a substantial subclass of wild knots that have isolated wild points. Our mosaics consist of infinite rooted trees with mosaics assigned to vertices and embedding functions governing connections. In developing this framework, we also introduce a notion of mosaic tangles as well as mosaic rigid vertex spatial graphs of which mosaic singular knots are a special case.

math.GT↗

arXiv2026

The KnotMosaics Package for SageMath

We introduce KnotMosaics, a SageMath package for constructing, visualizing, and analyzing knot mosaic diagrams. The package represents an n-mosaic as a matrix of standard tile labels and implements the local connectivity rules needed to validate mosaics, trace strands and components, compute planar diagram codes, generate random examples, and construct rational tangle mosaics. The planar diagram interface connects the mosaic representation to existing knot and link software, enabling computations such as Jones polynomials and knot Floer homology checks. We describe the package design, its main algorithms, and representative examples that illustrate how KnotMosaics can support computational exploration in knot mosaic theory.

math.GT↗

arXiv2026

A tropical framework for using Porteous formula

Given a rational polyhedral space $X$ (a tropical cycle with boundary, in the sense of Mikhalkin--Rau), one can define tropical vector bundles on $X$ having real or tropical fibers. By restricting attention to bounded rational sections of these bundles, one obtains characteristic classes that behave as expected classically. We develop further properties of these classes and use them to prove a tropical analogue of the splitting principle, which allows us to establish the foundations for Porteous' formula in this setting: a determinantal expression for the fundamental class of degeneracy loci in terms of Chern classes. The boundary framework is essential, as it allows the rank of a bundle morphism to drop at sedentary strata, giving degeneracy loci their expected codimension.

math.AG↗

arXiv2026

Topological Signatures of ReLU Neural Network Activation Patterns

This paper explores the topological signatures of ReLU neural network activation patterns. We consider feedforward neural networks with ReLU activation functions and analyze the polytope decomposition of the feature space induced by the network. Mainly, we investigate how the Fiedler partition of the dual graph and show that it appears to correlate with the decision boundary -- in the case of binary classification. Additionally, we compute the homology of the cellular decomposition -- in a regression task -- to draw similar patterns in behavior between the training loss and polyhedral cell-count, as the model is trained.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2024

$\mathbb{A}^1$-Brouwer degrees in Macaulay2

We describe the Macaulay2 package "A1BrouwerDegrees" for computing local and global $\mathbb{A}^1$-Brouwer degrees and studying symmetric bilinear forms over the complex numbers, the real numbers, the rational numbers, and finite fields of characteristic not equal to 2.

math.AG↗

arXiv2022

On discrete gradient vector fields and Laplacians of simplicial complexes

Discrete Morse theory, a cell complex-analog to smooth Morse theory, has been developed over the past few decades since its original formulation by Robin Forman in 1998. In particular, discrete gradient vector fields on simplicial complexes capture important features of discrete Morse functions. We prove that the characteristic polynomials of the Laplacian matrices of a simplicial complex are generating functions for discrete gradient vector fields of discrete Morse functions when the complex is either a graph or a triangulation of an orientable manifold. Furthermore, we provide a full characterization of the correspondence between rooted forests in higher dimensions and discrete gradient vector fields.

math.CO↗

arXiv2020

An introduction to geodesics: the shortest distance between two points

We give an accessible introduction and elaboration on the methods used in obtaining a geodesic, which is the curve of shortest length connecting two points lying on the surface of a function. This is found through computing what's known as the variation of a functional, a "function of functions" of sorts. Geodesics are of great importance with wide applications, e.g. dictating the path followed by aircraft (great-circles), how light travels through space, assist in the process of mapping a 2D image to a 3D surface, and robot motion planning.

math.FA↗